Christina Swarns

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Christina Allison Swarns is an American lawyer and the executive director of the Innocence Project since September 8, 2020. [1] As of 2012, Swarns had seven convicted murderers taken off of death row, one of whom was exonerated, three had their convictions overturned, and three had their sentences vacated. [2] She received national media attention after her U.S. Supreme Court victory in Buck v. Davis, a case that overturned a death sentence on the grounds of unfair racial bias. [3]

Contents

Early life and education

Christina grew up in Staten Island with her two sisters Jessica and Rachel. [2] Her mother, a Caribbean immigrant from the Bahamas, is a retired superintendent for the New York Department of Education. [4] Her father was a real estate broker. [2] Her parents met while her father was at Howard University and when her mother was a student at what then was the District of Columbia Teachers College. [5]

Christina attended Howard for her undergraduate education and received a B.A. in Political Science in 1990. [5] Swarns then went on to receive her J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School in 1993. [6]

Early career

Six months after graduating from law school, Swarns began volunteering at the Legal Defense Fund. [2] Recalling this experience, Swarns said, it was “the first time I felt I saw criminal law in its full capacity and power”. [2] Swarns also worked with the Legal Aid Society and then the capital unit of the Philadelphia Federal Community Defender’s Office in the mid-1990s. [2] In 2003, she accepted a position with the Legal Defense Fund. [2] Before joining the Innocence Project, Swarns held positions as the Director of LDF’s Criminal Justice Project, Litigation Director of the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc., and the Attorney-in-Charge of the Office of the Appellate Defender. [7]

Supreme Court trial

In 1997, Duane Buck, an African American man, was convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend, Debra Gardner, and one of her friends, Kenneth Butler, after arriving at her home armed with a rifle and shotgun on July 30, 1995. [8] [9] Additionally, Buck shot and wounded his stepsister, who was also at Gardener’s home at the time of the incident. [8] In an ill-attempt to prove that Buck wouldn’t commit acts like these again, his court-appointed attorney, Jerry Guerinot, called two psychologists as expert witnesses. [10] One of the psychologists, Dr. Walter Quijano, used Buck’s race as a factor in determining the likelihood that he would commit similar actions again. [8] For these actions, a Texas trial court jury opted to give Buck the death sentence as opposed to a life sentence. [10]

After undergoing many death penalty appeals on the basis of the violation of Buck’s 6th Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel, the case landed in the U.S. Supreme Court and was argued on October 5, 2016, with Christina Swarns as lead counsel. [11] On February 22, 2017, the judgment was reversed and remanded in a 6-2 vote with Associate Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissenting. [11] In reflection of the trial, Swarns said:

“I think it's a reminder given the history of race in the United States how that continues to play a powerful role and how it continues to influence decisions. And so that court's going forward have to be vigilant about making sure that kind of evidence is not admitted that it is not going to be tolerated by the United States Supreme Court”. [10]

Other notable cases

Nicholas James Yarris case

As an Assistant Federal Defender in the Capital Habeas Unit, Swarns was instrumental in using DNA evidence to exonerate Nick Yarris in 2003 from his convictions for the 1981 abduction, rape and murder of Linda May Craig that had put him on death row in Pennsylvania for over 20 years. [12]

Abu-Jamal case

While working with the Legal Defense Fund, Swarns overturned Abu-Jamal's death sentence after the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Abu-Jamal’s jury received flawed instructions and his death sentence was unconstitutional. [2]

Personal life

Christina has a daughter named Amina, who she adopted from Ethiopia as an infant. [2]

Related Research Articles

Innocence Project, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal organization that is committed to exonerating individuals who have been wrongly convicted, through the use of DNA testing and working to reform the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice. The group cites various studies estimating that in the United States between 1% and 10% of all prisoners are innocent. The Innocence Project was founded in 1992 by Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld who gained national attention in the mid-1990s as part of the "Dream Team" of lawyers who formed part of the defense in the O. J. Simpson murder case.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in the United States</span> Killing a person as punishment for allegedly committing a crime

In the United States, capital punishment is a legal penalty throughout the country at the federal level, in 27 states, and in American Samoa. It is also a legal penalty for some military offenses. Capital punishment has been abolished in 23 states and in the federal capital, Washington, D.C. It is usually applied for only the most serious crimes, such as aggravated murder. Although it is a legal penalty in 27 states, 20 of them have authority to execute death sentences, with the other 7, as well as the federal government and military, subject to moratoriums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund</span> Organization in New York, United States

The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. is an American civil rights organization and law firm based in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miscarriage of justice</span> Conviction of a person for a crime that they did not commit

A miscarriage of justice occurs when an unfair outcome occurs in a criminal or civil proceeding, such as the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime they did not commit. Miscarriages are also known as wrongful convictions. Innocent people have sometimes ended up in prison for years before their conviction has eventually been overturned. They may be exonerated if new evidence comes to light or it is determined that the police or prosecutor committed some kind of misconduct at the original trial. In some jurisdictions this leads to the payment of compensation.

Darryl Hunt was an African-American man from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, who, in 1984, was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape and the murder of Deborah Sykes, a young white newspaper copy editor. After being convicted in that case, Hunt was tried in 1987 for the 1983 murder of Arthur Wilson, a 57-year-old black man of Winston-Salem. Both convictions were overturned on appeal in 1989. Hunt was tried again in the Wilson case in 1990; he was acquitted by an all-white jury. He was tried again on the Sykes charges in 1991; he was convicted.

Wayne Patrick "Pat" Priest was a San Antonio, Texas state court judge who has presided over a number of nationally and regionally important cases.

Actual innocence is a special standard of review in legal cases to prove that a charged defendant did not commit the crimes that they were accused of, which is often applied by appellate courts to prevent a miscarriage of justice.

Wrongful execution is a miscarriage of justice occurring when an innocent person is put to death by capital punishment. Cases of wrongful execution are cited as an argument by opponents of capital punishment, while proponents say that the argument of innocence concerns the credibility of the justice system as a whole and does not solely undermine the use of the death penalty.

Exoneration occurs when the conviction for a crime is reversed, either through demonstration of innocence, a flaw in the conviction, or otherwise. Attempts to exonerate individuals are particularly controversial in death penalty cases, especially where new evidence is put forth after the execution has taken place. The transitive verb, "to exonerate" can also mean to informally absolve one from blame.

Legal malpractice is the term for negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, or breach of contract by a lawyer during the provision of legal services that causes harm to a client.

Shareef Cousin is an African-American man from New Orleans who was convicted of the first-degree murder of Michael Gerardi in 1996 and sentenced to death as a juvenile in Louisiana. At age 17, he became the youngest condemned convict to be put on death row in Louisiana, and one of the youngest in the United States.

This is a list of notable overturned convictions in the United States.

Earl Washington Jr. is a former Virginia death-row inmate, who was fully exonerated of murder charges against him in 2000. He had been wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death in 1984 for the 1982 rape and murder of Rebecca Lyn Williams in Culpeper, Virginia. Washington has an IQ estimated at 69, which classifies him as intellectually disabled. He was coerced into confessing to the crime when arrested on an unrelated charge a year later. He narrowly escaped being executed in 1985 and 1994.

In law, post conviction refers to the legal process which takes place after a trial results in conviction of the defendant. After conviction, a court will proceed with sentencing the guilty party. In the American criminal justice system, once a defendant has received a guilty verdict, they can then challenge a conviction or sentence. This takes place through different legal actions, known as filing an appeal or a federal habeas corpus proceeding. The goal of these proceedings is exoneration, or proving a convicted person innocent. If lacking representation, the defendant may consult or hire an attorney to exercise his or her legal rights.

The Illinois Innocence Project, a member of the national Innocence Project network, is a non-profit legal organization that works to exonerate wrongfully convicted people and reform the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California Innocence Project</span> American legal non-profit organization

The California Innocence Project is a non-profit based at California Western School of Law in San Diego, California, United States, which provides pro bono legal services to individuals who maintain their factual innocence of crime(s) for which they have been convicted. It is an independent chapter of the Innocence Project. Its mission is to exonerate wrongly convicted inmates through the use of DNA and other evidences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis N. Scarcella</span> American homicide detective

Louis N. Scarcella is a retired detective from the New York City Police Department (NYPD) who earned frequent commendations during the "crack epidemic" of the 1980s and 1990s, before many convictions resulting from his investigations were overturned during his retirement. As a member of the Brooklyn North Homicide Squad, he and his longtime partner Stephen Chmil built a reputation for obtaining convictions in difficult cases. Since 2013, Scarcella has received extensive and sustained publicity for multiple allegations of investigative misconduct that resulted in false testimony against crime suspects, leading to innocent parties serving long prison terms and guilty individuals going free.

Glenn Ford was convicted of murder in 1984 and released from Angola Prison in March 2014 after a full exoneration. Ford was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. He was the longest serving death row inmate in the United States to be fully exonerated before his death. He was denied compensation by the state of Louisiana for his wrongful conviction.

Felicia Gayle Picus was a former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter who was found stabbed to death in her St. Louis, Missouri home during the day on August 11, 1998.

References

  1. ↑ "Christina Swarns to Become the New Executive Director of the Innocence Project". Innocence Project. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Parker, Lonnae O’Neal. “Defense Lawyer Fights Racism in Death Row Cases.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 31 Jan. 2012, www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/2012/01/31/gIQAlKEPgQ_story.html.
  3. ↑ Bozorgi, Susan. “Christina Swarns Argues Racial Bias before U.S. Supreme Court.” Women Criminal Defense Attorneys Blog, 27 Nov. 2020, www.womencriminaldefenseattorneys.com/blog/christina-swarns-argues-racial-bias-u-s-supreme-court.
  4. ↑ “Christina Swarns.” The Appellate Project, theappellateproject.org/christina-swarns. Accessed 15 Nov. 2023.
  5. 1 2 Journal, A. B. A. "Lady of the Last Chance: Lawyer Makes Her Mark Getting Convicts off Death Row". ABA Journal. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
  6. ↑ "Leading the Innocence Project". www.law.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
  7. ↑ “Swarns PDF.” White House. https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Swarns.pdf
  8. 1 2 3 hlr (2017-11-10). "Buck v. Davis". Harvard Law Review. Retrieved 2023-12-03.
  9. ↑ Liptak, Adam (2017-02-22). "Citing Racist Testimony, Justices Call for New Sentencing in Texas Death Penalty Case". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-12-03.
  10. 1 2 3 Buck may Not Stop here After all. Twenty Years After Duane Buck was Put on Death Row, Partly due to Racist Testimony from a so-Called "Expert Witness," a Texas Court Vacates His Death Sentence. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Toronto, 2017. Canadian Newsstream
  11. 1 2 "15-8049 Buck v. Davis" (PDF).
  12. ↑ Fuoco, Michael A. "Death Row Release? Dna Test Said to Clear Man Jailed 21 Years: [Region Edition]." Pittsburgh Post - Gazette, 2003, pp. A.1. U.S. Newsstream
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